Germany's Bafin says Viceroy breached rules with ProSieben report

Reuters Staff

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FRANKFURT, March 12 (Reuters) - German financial watchdog Bafin said on Monday that short-seller Viceroy Research breached German securities law with a research report on ProSiebenSat.1 as it did not notify the regulator of its activities.

Under German law, any entity that is not a securities firm, a fund manager, an EU administrative firm or an investment company that intends to publish recommendations on investments in assets must notify Bafin ahead of time, it said.

It also said Viceroy’s website did not contain information on where the company was based.

ProSieben last week rejected a critical report by Viceroy that led to a drop in its share price by as much as 9 percent, saying the allegations of questionable accounting contained in it were “unfounded and distorting reality”. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan Editing by Arno Schuetze)